what is going on in the world? My thoughts/conclusions are 3 fold:1 Bidders simply do not understand that some sellers are putting a high price in off chance some mug will bid for it without checking the rest of ebay first!

"Presented to J. R. R. Tolkien on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday, with dedicatory verses by W. H. Auden, this book was originally released in 1962 by Allen & Unwin. I believe it is wonderful to see that now after 50 years HarperCollins honors this moment by reprinting this wonderful book. The most amazing thing is that the book actually carries "George Allen and Unwin Ltd" on the front of the jacket, and I don't see any mention of HarperCollins on the front - so we can probably expect a perfect reproduction of the original first edition. Since it is now long out of print it is nice to see that HarperCollins reprints this book and making it available to a wider public."

Exploring the HobbitCorey Olson"With the blessing of the Tolkien Estate to back his work, he will be writing a book called Exploring The Hobbit. It’s being published by Houghton Mifflin, and is due to grace bookstores come September 22, 2012. That date holds special meaning for Tolkien fans, as it’s the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien."

I always find it interesting to see these lists, but they are all so wrong.Fact remains that in December, January, February and March indeed the most expensive books sold (that were listed on Abebooks) were Tolkien books. But they never make the list since the "buy now" button was never used. If you however compare the listings from December with now you can see all signed and expensive Tolkien books are gone...

Where are all the signed copies of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings,... the proof copies of Lord of the Rings, the handwritten letters,... I know where many went to but many others I had nothing to do with are gone as well.

Some investors have been stocking up to prepare for the Hobbit movie! Keep an eye open... and prepare for a crazy ride over the next year and a half! It has begun (again).

Lucky finds... I could fill a little book with those! Maybe one day I should organize a small get to gether at my place and I can do a little tour through the collection. It must be, like with any collection, that every book (or item) has a tale behind it. Sadly enough (or lucky enough) I have been selling a lot of the true special items and I start to think one day to make a small list online of all these items that are now gone. I simply don't get the time to list the items online these days, they come and go too fast! So no complaining but for collectors I'm certain there are some objects that would have been of high interest.

As for collecting I tend to enjoy the short time I can treasure these items and understand now very well that all these items will exist long after I am no longer here...